My 3 novels: "The Story of S___;" "When Alice Met Her Favorite Movie Star in an Elevator," and "The Pop Star and the Child Prodigy." All 3 deal with aspects of autism spectrum disorders, tho the third doesn't mention that explicitly. All are e-books. The first 2 R also on paper. This blog has essays and poetry. My twitter: @AnnalisseMayer; Goodreads: https://lnkd.in/dfiqRxG; Linkedin: http://tinyurl.com/pz9x93u NB: Annalisse Mayer is a pseudonym

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Program maxims

I've been involved with the 12 step world for 11 years now. There are some maxims that I've learned, particularly with respect to dealing with overwhelmingly stressful situations. Here is some of that

Keep saying the serenity prayer, like a mantra.

Write down everything that is on your plate on a piece of paper and put the piece of paper in your God box (do you have a god box?) to symbolize giving this over to God

Resign from being God. You cannot solve all these problems. It's just too much. As much as you want to solve every problem, you cannot. You are a mortal, human woman. There are only 24 hours in a day.

Make self-care a priority. If you do not take care of your body and your soul, you will become increasingly useless -- major health crises are probably coming much sooner than you realize. Your mind and body are going to give out on you. Self-care includes program, yes.

Focus always on the next right thing rather than the many, many things that need doing. Focusing on everything at once is overwhelming.

Pray for creative solutions. Pray for less ambitious, realistic goals. Pray for proper prioritization. Avoid saying "I am trying to..." Instead, say "I'm praying for guidance on how to proceed." After praying or putting something in your God box, wait for an intuition/a solution/a vision of your next step.

Write gratitude lists.

Set boundaries. Your children, inter alia, have to realize that you are overloaded and need help, not more burdens.